Latest news with #PublicServiceEmployeeSurvey
Ottawa Citizen
03-07-2025
- Business
- Ottawa Citizen
Salgo: Public servants are happy in their work. But can they meet Carney's new demands?
Article content Earlier this year, I suggested in an Ottawa Citizen column that a tough economic and fiscal environment might not make this the best time for public servants to whine about their jobs. Since then, Canada has elected a new prime minister with an ambitious — one might almost say transformative — agenda, and he in turn has named a new head of the public service committed to ensuring that Canada's bureaucrats deliver on that agenda. The word on the street is that there will be some new faces at the top and not much tolerance for those who don't deliver. Article content Article content Fortunately, the results of the most recent Public Service Employee Survey (PSES), conducted in 2024 and just released, don't disclose much whining. While job satisfaction among federal bureaucrats is down from COVID days, the large majority of public servants like and are proud of their work, at least on a level comparable to that of other Canadians. Article content Article content I know I'm painting with a broad brush. But I'm comparing PSES results to studies of Canadian workers as a whole, compiled at roughly the same time by Statistics Canada and the widely used ADP Canada Happiness at Work Index (HAWI). While these surveys all use different methodologies and sample sizes (e.g., close to 190,000 for the PSES versus 1,200 monthly for the HAWI), for the most part they compare oranges to oranges. Article content According to the PSES, 77 per cent of public servants responded positively to the statement 'overall I like my job.' This is consistent with StatsCan's report that 80 per cent of Canadian workers, both government and non-government, rated their jobs seven or higher on a scale of zero to 10, with an identical average rating of 7.7 out of 10. The overall HAWI score for Canadian employees, arrived at somewhat differently, was lower, at 7.0, but broadly in the same ballpark. Article content Article content What's more, public servants generally take a lot of pride in their work, with 82 per cent saying they're proud of what they do — down from 86 per cent in 2020 but still impressive. Most also report a high level of satisfaction with their immediate supervisors, 80 per cent being satisfied with the supervision they receive. And perhaps not surprisingly, job security does not emerge as a big issue for most of them, although this is probably not the case for term and casual workers. Article content Article content These things said, the PSES highlights a fair number of frustrations that the new government should fix if it wants to deliver on its agenda. Of course, there are specific issues such as access to language training and endless woes with the Phoenix pay system. But I'm talking mostly about concerns that are more systemic, cultural and longstanding. For example, large numbers of government employees struggle with complex business processes (think procurement and staffing); excessive approval stages; and constantly changing priorities, with roughly 70 per cent finding these to be problems at least some of the time.
Ottawa Citizen
23-06-2025
- Health
- Ottawa Citizen
More public servants struggling with stress and mental health
Stress levels are rising, mental health is worsening and overall less public servants feel valued at work, according to results from the latest Public Service Employee Survey. Article content The Treasury Board Secretariat released the public service employee survey results from 2024 on June 23, showing a snapshot of regressed well being within the public service. Article content Article content The federal government conducted the survey of employees from 93 departments and agencies between Oct. 28 and Dec. 31, 2024. Typically, the survey is conducted every two years. Article content Article content In total, close to one in four federal public servants experienced high or very high stress levels, according to the survey results. Those levels were the worst since 2019. Article content Article content Around 8 per cent of public servants said their stress levels were very high compared to 6 per cent the previous year, while 15 per cent said stress levels were high, compared to 13 per cent in 2022. Article content The level of public servants experiencing moderately high stress levels also saw a jump of 2 per cent from 37 to 39 per cent. Article content In general, around 8 per cent of public servants had poor mental health, up from 6 per cent in 2022. Meanwhile, those with excellent mental health was down from 12 to 10 per cent, while those with very good mental health was down from 28 to 25 per cent. Article content The survey also found that more than a third of workers were either always or often emotionally drained after a workday. Article content Article content Fewer public servants said they felt valued at work with around two-thirds, or 67 per cent, saying they felt valued in the 2024 survey. In 2022, around 71 per cent said they felt valued at work. Article content Article content Around 20 per cent said they did not feel valued, which was up from 16 per cent in 2022. Article content The response rate for the 2024 survey was 50.5 per cent. Article content It's unclear what could be the cause of worse results when it comes to workers' stress and mental health. The size of the public service shrink by almost 10,000 jobs, after the Liberal government promised to shed 5,000 jobs over a number of years through a spending review. Article content
